USD 234, teachers reach impasse

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Members of the Fort Scott Chapter of the Kansas National Education Association (KNEA) officially declared impasse Tuesday night after a final contract negotiation meeting with members of the USD 234 bargaining team.

A federal mediator will now be brought in to attempt to help the two sides resolve the issue. Steve Lopes, director of the Six Rivers UniServ District of KNEA, said the mediator will probably be Norm Beattie from Springfield, Mo. He added that it may be three weeks to a month before the mediator comes in.

An apparent misunderstanding got in the way of resolving the dispute in Tuesday's meeting.

One of the main sticking points in the contract negotiations involved longevity pay for district teachers. The teachers' team was asking for a deal that would pay $10 per year after 15 years of service. The board team was originally offering $5 per year after 25 years of service.

On Tuesday, however, Superintendent Rick Werling told the teachers team and its lead negotiator Glenda Miller that the board would accept the teachers' offer if they would agree to add one more teaching day to their contract. Currently, USD 234 has the shortest teacher contract of all Southeast Kansas League schools with 183.5. Labette County has the longest with 189.

Miller said that the teachers' team was not willing to accept an extra teaching day, nor did she think that was even an option.

"We're here for false reasons," Miller said. "I thought we were having a meeting to discuss longevity pay as we proposed it."

The misunderstanding occurred because Werling said he informed Miller before the meeting that the board would accept the teachers' offer but only with the extra day stipulation.

"I very clearly did," Werling said.

Shortly after hearing of the stipulation, Miller said "We're done," and asked Werling for the impasse forms. Both parties signed the forms, making the impasse official.

Although the two sides have already come to agreements on a few of the contract issues -- health insurance, supplemental contracts and raise increments for advanced degrees -- Sopes said that all issues would be "on the table" for the mediator to discuss. Sopes said that by doing that, it gives the mediator flexibility to discuss all issues.